thats the thing, with this set i want to build large factories, storage halls and residential buildings, average heigth 4 to 6 storeys and base 30m² to 50m²
#arma3_texture
silver gull
so i cant really rely on a mask to seperate different materials, i would have to always make a mesh and UV split - which is terrible for LOD because as soon as you reduce stuff you get different colors and stuff
and i think macro/detail/AO will not be too usefull either, at least for large buildings - unless i use many multimats
but theres so many variables to consider, i'm running in circles... need to lock some stuff down and hopefully not screw myself with those decisions 😅
frozen blade
for blocks of flats, i would the residential unit as a cluster
the rest separate
for warehouses and larger floor print stuff
i would break stuff in modules
silver gull
i plan to divide interior from exterior for all so i can unhide the interior whenever not visible.
breaking it down... hm... i guess for very large stuff the 1-2 extra sections should be worth it
dense peak
you can also just remove the interior from everything but the LOD0 as long as you don't have any windows that would let you see inside it
if you go for door anim states to hide the interior, you can end up with a player being inside the building and close all the doors, then the interior would get hidden :S
silver gull
it could be hidden just for lower lod on door closing
not having interior model for lower LOD is not possible, i have windows
dense peak
just keep the wall behind the window, remove everything else i assume
silver gull
thats what i would do in normal LOD anyway where possible ; by hiding i mean "animation hiding". When dealing with this kind https://abload.de/img/cb215513drilfu29.jpg the whole "just delete/dont show it" becomes less trivial compared to some teeny tiny arma hut
frozen blade
@X3KJ#8043 depending on the amount of shit that needs to be loaded, i wouldn't worry about polycount
the textures are loaded even if it is animated hidden
which is where the downfall starts - 4x3textures + another 3 textures (so 16 indiv textures) per multimat
silver gull
i worry most about draw calls because it effects cpu which is prime bottleneck of arma
ideally i would like to have a much larger city than is common for vanilla maps with most of them having some limited form of interior
rare lake
me too. lets see what PMC real world data terrain project can achieve in the long run 😃
dense peak
Anyone know if its possible to use two different UV maps in Quixel suite 2?
One for _co and one for _mc
frozen blade
@dense peak not sure, doubt it
true fossil
@dense peak Not possible. You can try duplicate the mesh and set the UV's but i'm not sure if it will work as you wish. the best solution for you is do it in two projects and then merge it with photoshop, if needed.
nova hatch
Anyone have any tips for better metals in arma from SP2?
Not sure if my export is off or rvmat but I get like duller metals ingame without the metally shine. If anyone knows what I can mess with to get better results that would be awesome, thanks
warm stag
try with at least some value in the diffuse ( like 0.1 instead of 0), and specpower of about 50, with spec set to ~0.6 r/g/b
silver gull
specularity is pretty shitty in arma... you cant have a very shiny and glossy material (glass) and a rough dull material (cloth) in the same rvmat, unless you can live with either glass looking too dull or cloth too shiny
you have to modify specpower and specular[] to adjust, you cant do it alone by texture because the max and min values you can affect with texture are severely capped
you have to test it/calibrate it for yourself, using something like this test setup https://abload.de/img/20160801014809_1a9uh8.jpg
simple smdi texture with white to black from top to bottom in spec channel and same in gloss channel but left to right instead
converting from PBR to arma is not trivial to automate just like that. Best to use Metalness workflow however, easier to convert
nova hatch
@silver gull thankfully its all metal - just using a 9mm bulllet to test. I am using Soul Assassins guide and followed his export config. Would the export be different for metalness workflow?
silver gull
if it describes how to work with PBR specular workflow then yes certainly (i guess, havent read his guide)
silver gull
pbr metalness is not the same as pbr specular
white cargo
I lost all my bookmarks, anyone here have any good free texture sites to recommend?
rare lake
when you collect that free texture site bookmark list again, please sent to me and I'll add it to PMC Editing Wiki for sharing and safe keeping.
white cargo
will do
void birch
good old https://www.textures.com/ still has most things i look for. and the free ones are generally still big enough
shame so many of them are no longer 'free'
Haven't used half of these haha but ended up searching as well.
stoic cedar
Is anyone able to possibly help me?
full quarry
depends what the problem is
stoic cedar
I need to know how to texture the T-Shirt combat fatigues
full quarry
you find a template for that and use image editor of your choice to draw what you want on it
silver gull
need to know? That sounds like someone is threatening you to create retextures...
stoic cedar
They have my wife and kids 😏
silver gull
the donaters on your server or who? 😜
regal otter
I'm having some issues with a few textures in a custom uniform config. They worked fine earlier, but now they're not.. and I can NOT figure out why. They're just showing up all black now, and I do not have the experience to fix it alone. x-x
sudden hedge
@regal otter They are saved as paa right?
regal otter
They are. Like I said, they were working earlier in a different config.
sudden hedge
then I'd suggest you post your old and new config on pastebin
regal otter
https://pastebin.com/2Y3fBa7a Here's the current config
But the weirder part is that it's the exact same weapon and vehicle configs, just copied to a NEW file/folder and with the paths edited to reflect the new .pbo name
sudden hedge
Did you alter the CfgPatches to match?
regal otter
It should have been...
sudden hedge
Rad_Vydra_Uniforms
!=
Vydra\
analog mulch
How can I make one object two three textures without doing an extra model ?
nocturne lake
depends what it is. Most things you can use hiddenSelections. But weapon attachments (scopes, lights etc.) and terrain objects for islands do require separate models for each texture variant
acoustic dove
was there something for substance painter ? was that only that present?
crimson brook
What is the correct process to get a PSD with transparency to a .paa? Right now full black text is coming out almost invisible. This is a texture for a sign post to be applied in mission.
frozen blade
make a proper alpha channel for that text, and save it as a 32 bit (RGBA) TGA
crimson brook
Thanks PuFu, will give it a try.
frozen blade
or the easier version would be to save a PNG 32 bit (it doesn't require a proper alpha - it can be a transparent background - i do recommend TGA over PNG since PAAs do behave 100% like TGAs <minus compression> , although PNGs should convert just fine as well)
crimson brook
Hmm ok, just tried it and all the red turned blue.... (tga method)
frozen blade
is it 2^n file format?
frozen blade
yeah so?
crimson brook
Ok will try that, why does that affect the colour out of curiosity?
@frozen blade Yep working, Thanks 😃
unborn river
hi guys. I need an rvmat that will make my cockpit instruments light up when its dark (or always bright in color). Anybody got one lying around?
unborn river
thanks Apollo!
😃
I got one more question for you guys. how can I check if light is turned on? (reflectors)
I'm looking for something like "if (isLightOn)
vagrant lake
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/852725391214632135/7EB7796928C20607A1410BCE7AD316CFD9A41330/ https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/852725391214632330/A5CEBF0921D5CB86A7CA6235B618548266EF12E5/ any idea why those windows looks strange ? more a texture problem or a rvmat thing ?
vagrant lake
thanks will try it ^^
unborn river
@vagrant lake if you still get wirdness, try to do this in OB
select glass and select faces->move top
unborn river
👍
severe rune
Arma doesn't have emissive textures right? I want some small lights that glow in the night. They don't create any light on surrounding objects. They just glow for themselves so they are visible without NV goggles
full quarry
arma has emissive materials
nova hatch
You can have emissive objects
full quarry
that glow
nova hatch
Through rvmats
full quarry
👆
severe rune
Can I use a texture that defines where it should glow? Just like Normal maps and AO and stuff?
full quarry
mm no afaik emission value from rvmat applies to all the faces the material is applied to
so you will need the glowing bits cut into right size
severe rune
So if i make the glowing part an extra object with seperate material. I could then just apply the glowing rvmat as that objects material?
Seems not too hard
nova hatch
Yes pretty much
full quarry
it can be part of the same mesh
nova hatch
You could also select faces/verts and apply the rvmat
full quarry
just with different material applied to them
nova hatch
Its whatever the selection you select and apply the rvmat to, will glow
umbral peak
Does anyone here know anything about making custom normal maps for vanilla assets like uniforms?
full quarry
very hard to do.
umbral peak
ive seen it done in a few mods and wondered what the process was
full quarry
Since source models are not accessible I would guess drawing greyscale over the templates and running that through normalmap filter
in your preferred image editor
umbral peak
hmm
vagrant lake
does someone has good export settings for SP2 to export glass for a vehicle ?
severe rune
Do I need to keep something in mind in relation to HBAO+ ? Do I need a special texture or are the normal AO textures fine?
dense peak
Yo
I need help with something
I want to start making texture mods
Such as new army suits, etc
how do I convert them into a mod afterwards?
full quarry
I think theres a couple of threads about that on BIforums that should get you started
what you need is the Arma tools and Arma samples installed
and preferably Mikeros tools to pack them
hollow hedge
I want to make arma 3 map and I want to be releatic to an island in real life where do I start ? Thanks
full quarry
you look up PMC Arma 3 wikipages and terrain section and find Ultimate Terrain tutorial there. And then you find Jakerods Atlas tutorial (Link likely in the PMC wiki too) and read both and follow their instructions. Also be aware making a realistic map is hard work and may take long time.
and also look left on discrod <-- See the panel of channels and notice #arma3_terrain It is the appropriate channel for terrain questions.
@Kojixus#1133
dense peak
So basically, I'm looking to make a uniform, would it work if I would make the clothes over the character example sample into Blender then texture it in Blender too?
Blender has texturing possibilities
full quarry
yes that should work
dense peak
Then, what's the way of making it a mod?
Making it a actual mod and release on Steam
@full quarry And, I'm looking to add it in game too
full quarry
you need to export it into the arma format and write config for a new character that uses your new model
from blender FHQ BlenderToolbox addon can export directly into P3D
and it also can export all the necessary LODs
dense peak
Right, what about the face?
Like.. I want a uniform, not a character.
So, a uniform item which can be wearable by all the characters
nocturne lake
those should help you understand the fundamentals of what is required of the model
dense peak
Thanks a lot.
hollow hedge
okay thanks @full quarry
inland rock
Anyone know how to get the new van textures?
open canyon
In terms of pictures, you need to wait untill Bohemia "unlock" them from *.ebo. But if you want to just use them you can check paths in config info of van.
nocturne lake
no need, BIS already released .psd files for them on the Arma 3 Sample package in Steam
inland rock
I have arma 3 samples but i have no idea how to use it with arma tools
nocturne lake
when you open samples on steam it will take you to a folder where they are installed
in the Art folder there are some .rar (or maybe it was just .zip?) files that are compressed archives containing .psd files for various DLC objects
so you need something that can unpack those standard compressed files, and photoshop to open the .psd layer files
inland rock
Ok thanks @nocturne lake got it now
full quarry
Gimp can open the .PSD too.
hollow sedge
Hey can anyone point me to the instructions for how to retexture a mod? Anyone have any tips/tricks they can send my way?
severe rune
You grab the texture from the PBO using a PBO unpacker. use TexView or something else to convert it to png. Then you edit that texture and convert it back to paa. And the rest is #arma3_config
frozen blade
@hollow sedge before you got retexturing a mod
do ask for permission first
or for a headsup
hollow sedge
oh yeah defo mate, don't worry! Am planning on emailing the HAFM guys before I do it! XD
granite oak
Hia. Havin a bit of a problem with UV maps in object builder. I've set canvas size to 2048x2048 in c4d before exporting to 3ds file. But when imported to object builder and then exported as EMF or WMF, aspect ratio of the uvmap is never 1:1
severe rune
why do you export as 3ds?
I've been using FBX and had no issues so far
Is the UV already broken inside object builder? Check the UV edit thingy in OB
severe rune
What format are EMF/WMF used for? Never heard of these Microsoft graphics format
severe rune
What is the size of the canvas after it is "broken"
granite oak
1814 x 1827 px
Import error: code 0, message 'File is corrupted' while importing the file: 'C:\Ufe\Safe.fbx'
severe rune
Try 2014 FBX instead of the latest one.
granite oak
kk
severe rune
Didn't know OB doesn't support that. But I use 2014 because an old tutorial said Substance Painter doesn't support the newer ones.. Never bothered to check if that's true ^^
Can you see the UV map size inside OB? I don't use OB that much. Might just be the EMF export that's broken then
granite oak
imported FBX now, same problem when exporting
even when I specify export dimensions to be 2048x2048 ^^
severe rune
Could it be that EMF uses the bounding box of all existent objects as size instead?
granite oak
hmmm, maybe..
although I tried to expand uvmap to texturemap size in c4d, which didnt make a difference
if Im lucky, I might have found the problem, we'll see after export 😉
close, but no cigar ^^
nocturne lake
check the box for "add texture outline"
it creates a dashed border line at the edge of the texture panel
the exporter only exports the image to the boundary of the UV shells unless you add that outline at the edge of the UV tile
granite oak
think I found problem
my image program did not like EMF format or something, ifran viewer seems to read size correctly
yeah, problem solved, thanks for all help 😃
nova hatch
anyone know why when converting png->paa I get wierd specs in a grey section?
its a diffuse texture as well
goes from this https://i.imgur.com/jWYG3Op.png to this https://i.imgur.com/hP3V26Y.png
which appear as invisible specs ingame
hmm its applying an alpha and when I select RGB instead of RGBA in texview its fixed but it will not save as that
any suggestions?
saving as .tga fixed all my problems
arctic panther
Anyone know the route to Survival Fatigues? (Model and Texture)
pastel elm
@arctic panther Check this path: C:/Program Files(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/ArmA 3/Addons/characters_f.pbo/clothing_1co.paa
coarse scaffold
Hello everyone. I have a problem with this freakin TexView2. Everytime I am trying to convert tga to paa DXT5 it converts to ARGB8888 by itself O.o . Texture I am using was made in PS, 3192x3192 , has alpha channel, saved as TGA 32bit.
nova hatch
Needs to be 512...1024...2048...4096 - that size will not work
coarse scaffold
😮 Thank you 😃
coarse scaffold
Ok, different question now, I want to save it as ARGB8888 and it saves as DXT5 . Pic is 4096x4096
frozen blade
@coarse scaffold what is the suffix for that file?
coarse scaffold
_ca
frozen blade
hmm...
unreal magnet
that is normal
coarse scaffold
@unreal magnet what do you mean?
nocturne lake
because class ColorAlphaMap { name = "*_ca.*"; format = "DXT5"; dynRange = 1; };
that's the conversion rule for all _ca files
if you want to generate a ARGB8888 you have the file as filename_8888.tga
or filename_raw.tga
or filename_1555.tga
difference between the first and last two is dynRange = 0;
coarse scaffold
@nocturne lake There is a problem. When I use filename_8888.tga, it converts to 1555, why is that?
nocturne lake
hmm, check the conversion config and see what format it is. I did some modifications in mine (and made a couple of new suffixes) so might not be the same as it was originally
it's in the imageToPaa folder in your tools directory
texconvert.cfg I think it's called
coarse scaffold
ok checking
This is what is says:
class TexRGBA8888
{
name = "_8888.";
format = "ARGB1555";
dynRange = 1;
};
and I cant find a class that would make conversion to ARGB8888
olive current
try just changing format = "ARGB1555" to format = "ARGB8888" in the existing class
coarse scaffold
ok will do
now it changes to ARGB 4444 XD
also , which format is the best for alpha channel?
unreal magnet
Dxt5
odd crane
What's the difference between all these _8888, 4444 xd, 1555 .etc?
I know the difference between _co and _ca, but that's where my understanding ends
severe rune
Number of bits in the channel. 8 bits == 256 levels, 4 bits == 16, 1 bit == 1
the more bits the more granularity but the bigger the filesize
unreal magnet
odd crane
DXT4 and DXT5 (collectively also known as Block Compression 3 or BC3) converts 16 input pixels into 128 bits of output, consisting of 64 bits of alpha channel data (two 8 bit alpha values and a 4x4 3 bit lookup table) followed by 64 bits of color data (encoded the same way as DXT1). I understand half of this...I wonder if that makes me smart...or dumb.
unreal magnet
smart 😛
dry quartz
Hey! What is the diffference between AS and ADS texture? (For use with super shader)
@frozen blade @dense peak told me to poke you 😉
severe rune
https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Texture_Naming_Rules says ADS is shadow texture with diffuse channel.. so I guess it's a colored image of what the shadow looks like. Instead of plain white->black shadow.
odd crane
I think the ADS is for when the object is beyond the shadow draw distance, in which case it shows the extra channel?
dry quartz
@severe rune Thanks! So ads.g forces direct shadows when the engine no longer draws them. Basically, if I want to use this I'd bake a map of direct lighting top down of my asset (a building). now my question is: is it worth investing time in that seeing as nothing else inside the building will be in shadow at far distances?
severe rune
Substance Painter
spark valley
Gimp
unreal magnet
Paint
somber pier
Paint 3D
dry quartz
can anyone confirm..
Does AO texture used in Super shader occlude specular lighting?
(including cubemaps)
grizzled ermine
I made pics of some of my reskins:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/258350836080574479/359137478885769226/KI_Test01.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/258350836080574479/359140168990588928/Penumbro_Closeup01.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/258350836080574479/359140169464414210/Penumbro_UrbanGetup01.jpg
arctic panther
Anybody Know if its possible to retexture Nikos Clothing (formal) ? :I
prime olive
Hey is this the right area to ask about glass rvmats for my vehicle I'm creating?
@soft rivet only with mods pretty sure. I might be wrong though. I just know that you can't retexture it via a script in the mission file.
disregard what I said about glass rvmats, I managed to fix my problem
brazen iron
@soft rivet8418 nope, I tried it with a config and it didn't work
mellow zinc
Working on a custom optic.
I tried a 1024x1024 and I Get squished results.
https://gyazo.com/e65e00fb69cc5c988bf1aeed272f48e3
Tried setting it as a 1920x1080 and resized it to 1024x1024 and still squished with additional cropping https://gyazo.com/f4e9e0d161e7cbb1065646297b47b9e0
Any ideas, or am i missing a step?
nocturne lake
aspect ratio of the modeloptics .p3d file
coarse scaffold
hmm, does the DXT5 has resolution limit? Cant I make 8192x8192?
full quarry
what kind of resolution you play in if 4k is not enough?
anyway could you not use the game map?
coarse scaffold
that isnt the case. The altis map is huge, and when you export it from the game it is at 23900x23900 pixels. I want it to be part of the MFD , like in the SU33 mod, and I want it to be zoomable, but with 4k res it looks bad
coarse scaffold
Ok then, I'll checl what it looks like at 4k, if bad, I will split map into 4 4k textures
full quarry
as far as I know anyway
coarse scaffold
check*
full quarry
that could wok
coarse scaffold
thank you for clarification 😉
full quarry
you sure the SU mod has it as texture ?
coarse scaffold
yes, I depbo the file and there are texture for maps
besides, there is no other way at the moment anyway
full quarry
I wonder if you could read the actual satellite textures the map loads
up close at least
coarse scaffold
that would be cool :/ devs should release also the possibility to include sensors in the MFD, becouse now , there is no possibility like that
coarse scaffold
partially, most of that is made using memory points and class MFD in config-you can do reallygreat things with that. But some parts are made using model.cfg , animating and textures. I have no Idea at the moment on how to implement the map in the model.cfg, but I know how to do that in class MFD, so that is what I am doing
full quarry
yeah that stuff goes a bit beyond normal arma features
silver gull
some peeple say that 4k looks very bad quickly (worse than 2k) in certain circumstances. Haven't seen it myself though, but i rarely use 4k.
that said, the recent oprep said the van in lawDLC also uses 4k... whatever that means.
full quarry
4k mipmapped faster
because its resource hog if i've understood correctly
could be different now
nova hatch
I think I asked this awhile back but I forget what was said. Anyone know any good project settings + export for substance or rvmat settings for good metal in arma?
Currently used PBR glossy and it comes out a bit whitewashed and doesn't look that good in Arma
full quarry
PBR to Arma will probably never look as good. Hope someone has a solution for you.
nova hatch
Im not stuck to PBR- just a method to make metal look good
rare lake
I'm planning on switching from photoshop to gimp, has anyone done that here who could share some tips on how to do PSB conversion to gimp readable stuff?
googled a bit and gimp can open PSD files, not sure if I hit some limits as most of my psb's are those huge terrain satellite images above 20480 x 20480 resolution with several layers. hmm hmm.
maybe I need to use photoshop to save psb into psd, even as one layer at the time as there is 2gb file size restriction, then just use gimp to open that psd.
unreal magnet
Get Affinity if you want to switch
rare lake
what is Affinity?
severe rune
rare lake
so if I want to switch into gimp, I should get affinity. what am I missing there (dead tired so must be missing something obvious)? 😮
somber pier
Jesus affinity looks fuckin wild
shut sparrow
why would you want to leave photoshop ?
the selection feature with the bear looks awsome tho
full quarry
Photoshop may be tad expensive if you use it only for a hobby.
unreal magnet
@rare lake Its basically a full photoshop clone with a single-purchase price
nova hatch
Thats a tempting price
dense peak
@shut sparrow that looks indeed incredible, would be awesome for foliage texture creation
silver gull
its not free legaly ... its just that nothing stops you from getting it free technically
cursive zealot
Pretty sure all the versions before cc are technically free
cursive zealot
Well okay then, i am "pretty sure not"
acoustic dove
Trials are free for 30 days but you can get a free adobe cs2
rare lake
Redphoenix: @Snake Man Its basically a full photoshop clone with a single-purchase price
again, if I want to switch into gimp... how would completely different software help, makes no sense. anyways.
unreal magnet
Because it can open any PS file without problems
rare lake
zgmrvn: why would you want to leave photoshop ?
I hate the commercial sofware with idiotic registry crap, always makes me mad when have to install new version (especially the online CC stuff). gimp as open source and free software rocks. so far what I've tested gimp, it can do everything I need to do arma3 editing wise so it looks I'm sticking with it.
dull junco
Does anyone know what dimensions leaflets are? I want to make an image that fits on leaflets and on info stands, but not sure what the correct dimensions are
warm stag
You can also check out Krita (open source/cross platform), it's pretty good but more focused on painting than image manipulation
severe rune
https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_Leaflets
1,024 × 1,024 pixels,
@dull junco
dull junco
@severe rune Yeah I saw that, just not sure what exactly the size is of the actual image part, but I guess I could find that out in photoshop
dull junco
I only see the preview and the original size which is 1024 x 1024. I can see its that size but I want to know the boundaries of what I should actually edit. As for example if you go to the previews the whole image is 1024 x 1024 but the main part of it is smaller
shut sparrow
class CfgLeaflets
{
class West // Configuration for 1Rnd_Leaflets_West_F
{
model = "myLeaflet.p3d"; // In-flight model. Optional; When undefined, generic white leaflet is used
}
};
that means we could make it drop bananas 🍌
@dull junco uses thoses images as a basis, the texture size must be a power of 2 anyway
nocturne lake
they did say on the forums somewhere, what size the UV is. I'll check if I can find it
dull junco
perfect cheers guys for the info
severe rune
Is there a list somewhere which RVMat stage is what? I know Stage1 is Normal and up to stage 7..
Stage8 is emissive... 9 is macro 11 is masked normal...
Okey I can make a list myself now...
But does such a list already exist? manually going through the shaders is so much work..
As far as I can see uvSource worldPos is not documented. Did anyone try that out?
full quarry
which shader?
severe rune
Super.. I guess
dense peak
worldPos seems to not work in A3
only in the terrain shader
would be awesome in super
and Dedmen there are so many old shaders that are not even worth to pull up anymore
full quarry
@severe rune https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Super_shader
dense peak
there is probably super, multi and the few diffrent veg shaders but thats pertty much about it
a few exceptions will use something else
severe rune
That wiki page is missing emissive :u
severe rune
SuperExt is a different one?
full quarry
yes
severe rune
stage8+ is probably multi
Emissive is SuperExt only then
full quarry
I think so
dense peak
that is from TKOH iirc
dense peak
penny discovered that recently
oh ok
maybe it was known, i only heard of it a few days ago
severe rune
There are atleast 60 different shaders
dense peak
if its a long name, forget it 😄
are you looking at what the engine takes or at the wiki?
dense peak
if you stumble over any worldPos uvSource info i'd be glad to test it out 😛
severe rune
I was only blindly running around in shader land not know what's what. But now I see that stage8 is only used in SuperExt
dense peak
could you add own shaders to the engine there btw?
severe rune
ugh
as far as I can see.. theoretically yes.. The engine will compile textures from a hardcoded directory if a special flag is set
nooot easy
If only terrain supports worldPos.. Can't you put terrain shaded texture on any object and use worldPos there?
dense peak
that crashes the game
severe rune
oh.. ez
dense peak
i'd love to be able to have parallax on objects to fake terrain 😛
would stuff like this make much better blending, together with matching UVs from worldPos 😉
severe rune
Caustics and TerrainBody use worldPos
Will go to bed... I hope emissive on my scope will work :x
dense peak
terrain body is probably the heightmap of the terrain as mesh
not sure what to think of caustics
seems to be related to water
candid frost
Has anyone got the Config and texture for the new laws of war reflective jacket
full quarry
likely not since its EBOd
config you can get from the ingame config viewer
and there is a template request thread on the forums I think
candid frost
got a link to the template request?
severe rune
@candid frost I have it. But I don't like people who copy paste the same message in multiple channels
candid frost
I wanted the Config and the texture so I put it in the config and texture channel??
arctic panther
Would anyone know the answer to why i cannot open textures/images in texview via drag and drop?
plucky olive
can you open the image by goign to file > open > image?
severe rune
GG discord 😄
severe rune
jup.
plucky olive
welp who-ever that jack is I do apologise lol
quasi gulch
Something a bit more indepth?
full quarry
what do you mean?
quasi gulch
Just something that goes into more detail regarding TI maps, e.g. making them, saving them, all that.
full quarry
Ah, dont know if there is any. That page explains what they consist of.
arctic panther
@plucky olive Yes, i can open via file > open > etc, just cant drag and drop :I
shut sparrow
@buoyant quest what model do you need a TI for ? clothes ?
sage maple
does anyone have the texture file for the F18 Blackwasp and the F18 BlackWasp Stealth?
nocturne lake
there are .psd files available in the Arma 3 Samples on Steam
sage maple
are you able to link me them
nocturne lake
dense peak
anyone know why i often get 'error loading file' when trying to open .paa files extracted from a .pbo with texview 2?
dense peak
nvm
late canyon
I made a custom vehicle texture, adding a group logo. Looks sharp, saved at 32 bit, converted to paa and tested - in game, it's cripplingly low resolution, but otherwise sits fine.
It WAS an older texture for the vehicle that I piggy-backed on, so I'm looking into the samples as linked just prior, but any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.
Edit: Nevermind, apparently my moderate-high video settings were just too low o_0
stiff mountain
Ive heard gimp and Photoshop are good for texturing, anyone have other recommendations?
severe rune
SubstancePainter :3
full quarry
3D Coat
nova hatch
Ms paint
shut sparrow
Quixel DDO
frozen blade
lol quixel
naive elk
Hello, could anyone help me find the textures for the airfield in Altis?
I located on the forums for where they apparently are
rw.paa - runway piece
rw1.paa - taxiway piece
rw2.paa - taxiway piece
rw3.paa - taxiway piece
rw4.paa - taxiway piece
rw5.paa - taxiway piece
rwb.paa - runway,approach end
rwe.paa - runway, other end
rwn.paa - runway piece, taxiway join
rwr.paa - runway piece
These can be found in the Eden.pbo and also Abel.pbo.
However rw.paa is not present in Abel.pbo.
There is a problem with using either rw.paa or rwr.paa, I can't remember which one works fine and which one has problems.
If you have problems using one, change it for the other, as they look exactly the same.
Planck
However, I looked within 3den.pbo and was unable to locate them.
Am I looking in the incorrect place?
If anyone knows, please @ me as I have to go out and take care of some things. Cheers to anyone who reads and wants to help.
vagrant lake
Hey Guys i have a problem with my windows, https://i.imgur.com/GqePxqq.jpg like you see there is some texture problem, the white stuff should be the dirt, i use Substance painter to get it textured, does anyone know how to fix it ?
distant rose
Airfield textures be in roads_f pbos, since they are roads.
paper night
is there a way of making a texture only appear in NV?
or for a better word, illuminate, like an IR patch
severe rune
@Frostie#2154 Looks like your diffuse is white?
dry quartz
I've written a Photoshop to PAA exporter. Have a look if this is something you'd find useful :)
https://forums.bistudio.com/forums/topic/210972-photoshop-to-paa-exporter/
shut sparrow
👍
odd crane
Can someone break down what the adshq map does?
odd crane
nevermind, found my answer
frozen blade
same thing ADS map does
open ember
@dry quartz i found a GIMP plugin that is supposed to allow for PS plugins. It is called GIMP PhotoShop Plug-In (PSPI). Any chance yours would work in it? Thanks.
dry quartz
@open ember Mine is not a plugin, just a script. you can send a link if you want but I doubt it's related to scripts too.
open ember
dry quartz
@open ember yeah that wouldn't work. sorry
odd crane
@frozen blade to be honest I'm not too sure I know what ads does. I understand it's suppose to show when you're too far away for the normal shadows to render.
Can I use _NOPX with a normal supershader or multi material shader?
full quarry
👆 correct
open ember
@dry quartz thanks for looking into that.
dry quartz
@odd crane ADS/ADSHQ texture contains Ambient Occlusion data in the blue channel and (forced) Diffuse Shadow in the green channel. It's like you say, when the shadows aren't rendered (because they are too far away or it's overcast) the forced diffuse shadows will kick in. It's quite a flawed idea in my opinion. AO however is used at all times except when in direct lighting. That's why it's called ambient (lighting) occlusion. It also occludes specular highlights (I believe). if you're only using AO and don't feel you need the high quality compression you might as well save as _AS. It's always best to skip adding data to any channels the shader won't read (for best possible compression). ADS doesn't use red channel and iirc AS doesn't use red or green.
odd crane
I'm sort of forced to use ads/adshq for a ship I'm making. When the player is a good distance away from the ship the shadows stop rendering and it looks funky without the additional ambient occlusion of ads.
dry quartz
alright! the reason I think it's a flawed idea is because in a building, for example, you have to assume that the whole interior isn't lit at all (because you don't know the direction of the light). So based on that you should fill all interiors with 0. when you then put a character or vehicle or whatever in the unlit room they will stick out a lot like bright angels in the room. so in my opinion it's better to not use it and let the lighting look dull but balanced.
odd crane
I know, the lighting sucks....my ship doesn't have lights on the inside and it's suppose to be dark but it doesn't look dark. I think making all my other assets dark might kind of balance it out...i hope 😧
dry quartz
@odd crane isnt baking AO enough?
odd crane
darker colors
it's weird, you'd have to see it
one thing I can't stand is when shadows, lighting and colors of different objects don't match up
frozen blade
sorry tim i thought you knew what ads does
indeed @dry quartz response is on money
it is used to fake shadows at distance
weird implementation
for reasons mentioned (units in buildings)
odd crane
Yea, I almost can't wait for enfusion but I'm sure it has its own set of weird implementation
My _ca texture isn't receiving shadows at all. Any idea why?
full quarry
possibly "noZwrite" flag?
odd crane
without it though I can't see the water through my windows. Any idea?
Should I try something else besides "noZwrite"?
full quarry
is that for a cargo view window?
odd crane
Not really. It's for my ship. You can walk around on the inside and look outside through windows
odd crane
yes
full quarry
there are other alpha related flags but not sure what would work in your situation. You can see water through plane canopy and such so I would look what their rvmats have
odd crane
the two windows on the right have my glassparts rvmat. Though everything else is cast in shadows the two windows on the right aren't because the specular shine is showing. The third window from the right has no .rvmat, but the water isn't showing.
odd crane
It's looking like the solution to my problem isn't going to be the .rvmat 😦
nocturne lake
_ca (dxt5) doesn't receive shadows unfortunately
dry quartz
it has nothing to do with texture format. perhaps the glass shader performs transparent lighting while super doesn't
I'd just take some vanilla building or vehicle and place in the editor to see if the glass can recieve shadows
workaround for you @Tim#5638 would be to reduce specular intensity for interior glass. if you want to go extra crazy also render an environment map of the interiors and put on the interior glass 😉
nocturne lake
pretty sure there's still no shadow on _ca for glass either. You don't see any physical shadow gradient on the dirt opacity in the same way you see it on the frame in windows like these https://i.imgur.com/dk9Gbci.png
there may be tricks with the _as and specular array to darken the window as a whole when in shadow
dense peak
other shaders support shadow on _ca pretty sure, it might just be the glass one as tjocke said
nocturne lake
grass seems to support it aye
acoustic dove
well trees also are full of _CA
nocturne lake
they have different model properties and shaders though
I don't think I've seen a solution to it on vehicles
IIRC the ghillies in Marksmen had to have their alpha bit-depth changed to stop them glowing in shade
dense peak
ghillies are advTree shader
and yes grass also supports shadows
so do roads which are NormalMapSpecularMap
dry quartz
CA only means the texture's alpha has 8 bit depth, not that the shader is transparent. rendering transparency is very expensive and that's probably the reason BIS choose not to include shadow sampling. It's not uncommon that games doesn't even sample lighting in the transparent pass.
Trees and grass shaders reads an 8 bit alpha from the texture but only to know where to discard and, if ATOC is enabled, with what alpha intervals atoc should be applied
odd crane
I'll try the AS approach but I'll have to redo my uv mapping since both the outside and inside window faces use the same bit of texture. I did make a special enviro map and applied it to the brass fixings and it looks awesome! My bell is very nice! https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/94979365054347457/2326631D0BB0B1E8196C4EC461DB651C53C52DF6/
silver gull
if you use dedicated envi map/rvmat for the bell/brass already you can also tint the specular color in the rvmat (iirc) to make it look more like metal reflection, instead of plastic
odd crane
I used the preset ones from that .rvmat template wiki page. I can tweak it later though. Brass wouldn't have been this clean on a ship.
silver gull
normally that would be the way to do it. Normally you would have to make do with the white reflection, as we have to use greyscale specular (with adjustable tint however). Every different metal would need different specular reflection color- > every metal a different rvmat -> nope. But since you are already using a seperate rvmat for your brass then you have the 'unique opportunity' to tint it specifically for brass.
odd crane
Yea, I'm definitely going to play with it more. I gotta say this ship with multi material shaders, using NURBs, path deform, two UV channels in max, chamfering edges and all has been a unique learning experience
rare lake
aayeah just finished converting all photoshop PSB and PSD files into gimp XCF format 😃
time to uninstall photoshop cs6
shut sparrow
😭
rare lake
tears of joy
silver gull
good on you man! Our marketing 'lady' at the office "snobbed" out today when people said gimp was totally sufficient for what she does...
full quarry
its all about knowing how to use your tools
ember dagger
what does everyone here texture with
nocturne lake
photoshop
frozen blade
substance painter
- photoshop for small corrections
quixel suite is waaaay behind sub painter these days
been years since there were any real features added to it, it seems all focus now is megascans
nocturne lake
Regardless of whether you use Quixel or Substance though, you really need to know how to to make diffuse from what you are given by those programs
ember dagger
anyhow. for folds..how.do you guys do it. im getting decent at it but my highpoly could be better
(i know the basics very well)
nocturne lake
bake ao and curvature from the HP (or convert from the normal map)
overlay that on the _co
Quixel has a "texture base" smart material that does that from input maps. Not sure about SP but I'm sure there are ways of doing it
nocturne lake
that's more of a modelling question. People nowadays use sculpting software to do it
or generate the cloth with simulation like Marvelous Designer
but the old school method would be on the LP, painting them in or using photo sources to generate a heightmap for the normal map
ember dagger
mmm. i use Zbrush. how easy is marvelous to learn?
nocturne lake
depends how much you know about tailoring 😄
I gave it a go. And the basics of it are pretty simple
but I didn't like how what I made, was looking
need a decent model to apply the cloth to I think. Default arma T-pose one isn't the most dynamic for generating folds
I saw someone make one with more... anatomy, to get better folds in the pants
frozen blade
also, for folds in general, do use a lot of refs, it does wonder. ie:
https://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=zbrush folds cloth&rs=typed&term_meta[]=zbrush|typed&term_meta[]=folds|typed&term_meta[]=cloth|typed
odd crane
substance painter looks great, but it only seems accessible to people who want to spend that much money on the subscription or for people already in the industry
Is there a flat cost option to substance painter?
stray relic
Yes Tim, you can make a 1-off purchase.
odd crane
oh, didn't see that part. oops. $149 isn't bad. I may have to get that along with zbrush
nova hatch
or if you are a student
nocturne lake
lol, enjoy zBrush
odd crane
Oh i'm sure I'll hate zbrush...but I hate mudbox even more.
Just thinking about mudbox makes me want to chunk my computer out the window but my co-workers will probably think I'm nuts.
nocturne prairie
Guys, my rvmat works good. But since today doesn´t work. My another rvmats from last month have the same problem. In Bulldoozer look good but ingame is my Texture black. I Dont know why...
EDIT: When i remove the RVMAT, the Texture works...
PBOProject give me no errors
diffuse[] = {1,1,1,1};
forcedDiffuse[] = {0,0,0,1};
emmisive[] = {0,0,0,1};
specular[] = {0.5,0.5,0.5,1};
specularPower = 100;
PixelShaderID = "NormalMapSpecularDIMap";
VertexShaderID = "NormalMap";
class Stage1
{
texture="ca\structures\Data\Dirt\ground_01_nohq.paa";
uvSource = "tex";
class uvTransform
{
aside[] = {1.0,0.0,0.0};
up[] = {0.0,1.0,0.0};
dir[] = {0.0,0.0,0.0};
pos[] = {0.0,0.0,0.0};
};
};
class Stage2
{
texture = "#(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,1,1,SMDI)";
uvSource = "tex";
class uvTransform
{
aside[] = {1.0,0.0,0.0};
up[] = {0.0,1.0,0.0};
dir[] = {0.0,0.0,0.0};
pos[] = {0.0,0.0,0.0};
};
};```you missing all the other stages
nocturne prairie
i dont need the other stages... i use a another rvmat in my building and this works 100%.
PixelShaderID = "NormalMapSpecularDIMap";
VertexShaderID = "NormalMap";
is only for 2 stages
nocturne lake
do you have ca\structures\Data\Dirt\ground_01_nohq.paa unpacked on your P:\ drive?
nocturne prairie
yes. this works beautiful in bulldoozer, but not in arma... i dont know why... I tested it with copy from original folder in my folder and dont work too...
i change the stages and so in :
PixelShaderID="Super";
VertexShaderID="Super";
i dont have problems with them.. im confused.. rly
i had the problem instantly..
crimson brook
Does anyone have the NATO uniform with knee pads/ elbows removed in PSD/ editable format? For example:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/861729780068401985/2B05B419EA45D5280B20074681D4205166466072/
white cargo
will I get mipmap issues if I make a 4096x2048px texture?
unreal magnet
should not now
acoustic dove
4k maps now properly work in arma?
frozen blade
yeah ^ since laws of war DLC (it is in the changelogs)
@nocturne prairie no idea, just a weird quesiton here: why do you use that pixel and vertex shader
?
did you try changing these to something else and test it?
usually if it is black it means it doesn't find that .paa when packing
acoustic dove
@frozen blade well why that change was done just by the latest dlc? was there something that needed 4k texture?
nocturne lake
Jets DLC stuff has 4k textures, and one of the REPs seemed to suggest the ambulance interior in LoW is 4k
acoustic dove
can you show me the change log that mentions it?
frozen blade
@acoustic dove bah, don't be a lazy bum and do a search 😃
acoustic dove
well looking at the spotrep of LoW and i dont see it
frozen blade
i think there was some optimization in terms of how 4k tex are handled in memory
might be after LOW was released, or just before it...
nocturne lake
https://dev.arma3.com/post/oprep-idap Aside from the model and functionality, one new technical improvement with the van was the possibility to use 4096x4096 pixel resolution textures. This is great because it meant we could increase the level of detail of small objects in the interior.
acoustic dove
ok , that sounds good
nocturne lake
as Pufu says, I think it's changes to memory management so they don't mip down to absolute shite
acoustic dove
great , thats what it needed , since 4k worked fine just the mip went to crap
white cargo
this is awesome news as I'm creating a large airbase
nocturne prairie
@frozen blade Arma like. Arma use it for metal textures
But is ok. I changed it. Work know...
frozen blade
use it for what metal textures?
brittle cosmos
For reference, this should be a list of all of the 4k textures BI uses https://pastebin.com/bZkNqZna
acoustic dove
I wonder in old engine like A3 , still it is better to have like 3or4 - 2K maps or just 1 - 4K map?
dry otter
1x 4K I guess to keep the section count to 1
severe rune
UV Mapping is done on GPU anyway. All the engine really does is load the texture into Ram and shove it off to VRAM.
So you should ask your GPU if it prefers one 4K or multiple 2K's.
I don't think your GPU cares much.
I guess engine creates the Mip maps though.. But I don't think that matters
dense peak
^ drawcalls being the factor
severe rune
Engine probably calculates the mipmaps once if enough VRAM is available. If the engine even does it.. I could imagine modern GPU's could do that on the GPU.
dense peak
afaik mipmaps are saved in the paa
generated during binarisation or so
based on the suffix it uses diffrent compression methods
severe rune
Well.. Then it is really only load texture and shove it into VRAM.
drawcalls should stay the same as long as your textures don't have different shaders. Even then I don't know.. I imagine you just tell GPU to draw your model and it then takes care of applying textures and shaders
dense peak
i think each material set is a new drawcall, therefore 4x2k maps will be 4 drawcalls, 1x4k will be 1 drawcall
acoustic dove
if you have modern GPU , like 1070 then that shouldn't be problem anymore
severe rune
less is always better. smaller textures, fewer textures, lower poly models.
In your case 4x2k vs 1x1k you have the same texture size in the end
dense peak
that should be the beauty of it, same ammount of pixels available, less drawcalls
acoustic dove
i always wanted to use 4k textures but that mip map issues forced me to use 2k maps
so this way i can do more details and less maps
nocturne prairie
Make a atlas map and its better as 2x 2k..
You can make more as that. You can merge the maps for a bigger map. You reduce the drawcalls
frozen blade
@dense peak yes, correct. 😄 4k ftw, fuck the potato pc players
nocturne prairie
4k is no problem.. 8k is problem^^
acoustic dove
games only to start using 4k , even thats thanks to consoles lol
silver gull
i seriously doubt that...
distant rose
I been baking out to 4k for a while now, I dont see why my own content should suffer because someone with a pc from 19oatcake cant use it. besides it makes reiteration a lot easier not having to rebake textures down to 2k.
dry otter
☝ agree
yet it makes addons quite big 😄
like imagine RHS going full 4k
you ded buy more HDDs :p
frozen blade
@dry otter some content is already 4K, especially newer stuff
older was baked down to 2k...i might update my own content if i ever have spare time and mood for that shit
dry otter
yeah takes a while to update everything, I did notice, so did we in IFA3 with a few 4k textures in some cases
I'm still split between disk space and very high quality that I don't know if the engine will mipmap correctly resulting in somewhat altered performances
it would need a serious benchmark
rare lake
its a huge mindset adjustment. my previous holiday videos in 1080p file size was no brainer, but latest in 4k are 150 gigabytes, that was sort of shock. but hey be careful what you ask for, you want 4k then deal with the file sizes 😃
frozen blade
@dry otter again, yeah 4k will take a bit more vram over 2k
that said, for shit that used to use 2-3x 2k tex
a single 4k texture is a lot better in terms of draw calls (and yes, it is 4x2k res)
dry otter
👍
dry quartz
4k streams slowly. Use with caution. Industry standard is still 2k for that reason.
warm stag
source?
dry quartz
There's no readable "source" as far as I know - this comes from experience. But you can ask anyone else in the industry and you'd get the same answer. Target platforms are consoles however but in terms of streaming 4k textures even a mid/high end PC is slow
warm stag
I'm skeptical that resolution makes a significant difference (other than total size in memory), otherwise things like megatextures wouldn't work, and they've been around for a good while now
acoustic dove
now consoles are getting 4k assets so the excuse to use just 2k isnt valid anymore
dry quartz
It's not that 4k doesn't work, it's just slow to move it into memory. And in certain cases it's a valid option but when the engine requests a stream of many 64 mb textures at once you can experience poor mipmapping performance and/or stuttering
frozen blade
@dry quartz ideally 4K should be loaded using mip-maps upwards
also, afaik, it is easier to buffer a single 4k texture into memory
than 4x4k textures
easier = faster
same goes for accesing the data
hence why atlas textures has been used for quite a bit of time now
sure, no one here said: fuck it, just use 4k textures when these are not needed
dry quartz
@frozen blade Mipmap upwards? What do you mean by that? It's not fast jumping the Mipmap pyramid of a 4k texture and that's the main problem with them.
frozen blade
especially with a product such as arma that is really poor at buffering things since the engine is built around continous streaming data from disk
@dry quartz are we talking about arma, or are we talking in general?
in general, when loading texture data, in order to skip the "blank = no texture" display
dry quartz
In general. I assume arma streams textures in a similar fashion as other engines.
frozen blade
for a 4k texture that has 2k, 1k, 512 and 256 mipmaps
it is gonna load it 256 -> 4096, correct?
dry quartz
Right
frozen blade
arma is different here, since afaik the engine needs to buffer it first
then send it to vram and do the 256>4096 thinghy
i have yet to see any other engine that constantly uses the disk when running
not to the extent RV does
but despite this quirk
it is always better to have the least amount of draw calls, not matter of what engine we are talking about
so for stuff that used to be 3x2k, now you can merge (or well, do it) directly o a single 4k sheet
also, afaik, the texture resolution is linked to user settings
dry quartz
Yes ok! I wouldn't know. All engines buffers but RV might do it more which could be the result of either too many textures in the world or poor memory handling
frozen blade
i'd say poor memory handling
back in the OFP days
HDD had more space than needed, memory was about 256-512mbs irc
not sure how much that changed
case of point, use 4k textures when you have to 😃
dry quartz
Sure :)
frozen blade
i did test it after laws DLC, indeed the 4k textures are a lot more "stable"
and less prone to mip-mapping
also, when they do mip-map, they don't look monkey ass like they used to
dry quartz
Alright!
frozen blade
otherwise RH is right, you will get to see more 4K content, due to 4K resolution getting more mainstream
and GFX cards pushing their memory size and access
dry quartz
Yes but the big jump will come with next gen consoles
earnest plaza
my fans told me that BIS had upped the Ante before anythig else , whatever implemation has been forced upon the old RV it is certainly labouring as a consequence
silver gull
@acoustic dove "4k assets" has nothing to do with having 4k texture size...
Star Citizen mostly uses 2K maps for example...
acoustic dove
is Star Citizen on Xbox one X?
i dont think so mate 😄
those "4k assets" is a term for new consoles like Xbox one X , that has 4k textures
nocturne lake
do they use it on everything though?
acoustic dove
well they probably do , because these 4k assets are like over 100 gb
like in the latest Forza 7
nocturne lake
I'd wonder though if they don't just mean it's improved tex resolution over their old standard (which probably wasn't even 2048*2048 on most console games), for the sake of how the game looks on 4k TVs
i.e. marketing bs
acoustic dove
in PS3-Xbox360 era that was the case that they didnt used 2k maps ever
but since then that was changed by PS4
and now Xbox pushes it further
ofc it is not everything 4k tex but for the most things , it has to be because of those sizes
distant rose
consoles probably refer to "doesnt look shit on 4k screen"
silver gull
@acoustic dove Oh so you mean because SC is not on console means it's not "4k ready" ? Forza is just cars. Track racing games are like the least complicated game types performance wise there exist, graphically. You can bet your mama that anything but the cars will not be 4k
I also call bullshit on "has to be 4k because size". When in a normal game does the object take the entire screen? Barely anywhere. It's the exception
FO4 textures for standard "next gen" consoles where 1k maps. "High res" was 2k maps for most
acoustic dove
@silver gull then explain those extra 100 GB 😉 , even if it was only cars 4k thats still something that consoles never had (only Xbox one X)
btw 4k ready means that it can run 4k resolutions thats all ,but some PC games have 4k assets already in them
frozen blade
afaik, rule of thumb for assets is as follows:
if it doesn't fit the entire 4k screen res
there is no need for 4k texture
it is 1:1 resolution to texture rule. sure if you use say a 2k map on a gun, the size you will see most of the time on screen is around 2048x1024, and in most cases that gun is like tops 50% of the screen estate
odd crane
Ok, I have a weird, odd bug going on with my multi-shader material that I hope you kind gents can help me with. Take a look at my wooden deck.
Ok, so I have my black channel, red and green set up, but for some weird reason one of my tiled textures is showing up as 1:1 in the green channel.
The weird black semi circle in the picture is a part of the tiled textures I'm using for my planks/wooden plugs
Da heck is wrong with this stuff?
Here is my multi material shader rvmat
frozen blade
@Tim#5638 man, do use this multimat format instead, much easier to track things:
rare lake
saved, thanks PuFu.
dry rapids
Hey guys, im new to texturing and I need some help with normal maps and smdis
I tried multiple times but it never seems to work
Can anyone run me trough it or link me an actual tutorial that works
full quarry
what about them do not work?
shrewd arrow
Hi Guys, is there a template for the new dlc overoll? Or can a developer provide us one? Just asking because i want to retexture them
full quarry
templates if available are in the samples as far as I know
there is a thread about template releases/requests on BIforums too if I recall right
shrewd arrow
Ok because i cant find it in the samples maybe im blind :D
full quarry
it may not have been released then
odd crane
@frozen blade Thanks! I'll try it out tonight.
frozen blade
@odd crane - also it might be wise to use that mask as a stage tex in one of the simpler shaders, just so you make sure it shows
also, due bear in mind that it needs to be in uvset1 (sorry, didn't actually look over your rvmat since the default layout is 100% unreadable for me)
yeah, and now that i wrote that, that is precisely where the issue stands:
{
uvSource = "tex";
class uvTransform
{
aside[] = {1,0,0};
up[] = {0,1,0};
dir[] = {0,0,1};
pos[] = {0,0,0};
};```
```class Stage4
{
texture = "1715_frigates\textures\decks_mask.paa";
texGen = "4";
};```uvsource should tex1, i assume your MC, MASK and ADSHQ maps are also using a secondary uv set - as needed
odd crane
I'd have to look at my model tonight but I'm sure the MC, MASK and ADSHQ is using uvset0 and the tiled textures are using uvset1. If you look at my mc and adshq they also use texgen 4, which I suppose is "Tex" which is the uvset0 channel.
I think I found out what it was!
{
uvSource = "tex1";
class uvTransform
{
aside[] = {1,0,0};
up[] = {0,1,0};
dir[] = {0,0,1};
pos[] = {0,0,0};
};
};```All my tiled textures use Tex1, which I suppose is UVset1. My MC, ADSHQ and MASK all use TexGen4, which uses "Tex" which is the UVset0
But if you look at TexGen7, it uses Tex and not Tex1, and my green channel dtsmdi uses TexGen7...which is wrong
{
texture = "1715_data\textures\plank_deck_a_co.paa";
texGen = "0";
};```That must be it. I'll try it out tonight.
frozen blade
try and redo it using my template
is a lit easier
to use based on mask
and yes for whatever reasons
some stages uses same texgen
rare lake
hot dam lil Tim, ever heard of pastebin?
odd crane
lol yes. I used it previously, I was just kind of excited. It has been a problem plaguing me awhile. Why doesn't discord have a spoiler box? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Discord?
odd crane
Yup, that's what it was. @frozen blade the default one is a lot easier to read though so I think I'll use that one from now on.
frozen blade
i can't use the unbinned version at all
odd crane
It is awkward to read
frozen blade
it is, because it is the only shader you need to know for sure what goes where, based on that mask, just like you would do with a multi-sub/object mat
or rather a blend
dense peak
Is there a place I can complain about an account re-publishing my addon on playWithSix?
I can't find a report button or anything..
EDIT: Never mind there is a tiny red flag icon under the image of the addon
odd crane
Is there an easy way to take 4 sets of objects, each with a 2048x2048 texture and combined them into one large 4096x4096 without having to manually adjust the UV maps?
dry otter
mmh not AFAIK
nocturne lake
One could probably write O2script for it though
I think there was a script for merging textures back in the older versions of O2
odd crane
I vaguely remember a texture merge feature but never gave it any thought. If 4096x4096 mipmaps correctly now I think one gaint 4096x4096 would be better than 4 2048x2048, but all my islands are so tiny it would be painful to manually do it.
full quarry
can you not scale each uv set 0.5 towards each corner to make them use 1/4th of uvspace each and then photoshop the textures together the same way
odd crane
oh wow I can do a keyboard entry instead of manually doing it. Thanks for the idea HorribleGoat!
So what should I do gents, keep 4 2048x2048 textures or use one big giant 4096x4096????
My ship will be over 300,000 polygons : [
full quarry
Id go for the 4k if it works now
I got some big vehicles that could use 4k combination too
silver gull
if it is the size of a building, using tiling textures might be the better option
full quarry
in some cases that could work better too
silver gull
stuff like the planks makes a lot of sense to be tiled, but when you are already at this stage it doesnt seem worth redoing it
odd crane
I'm using multi-material shaders for a lot of it, especially the planks. If you look at the planks, there's trennels and joints. I also have the AS and MC map. This way I'm able to have high resolution textures for the planks, trennels and joints in the right locations while at the same time not having to use multiple 4096x4096 textures
It's also difficult to tell it's tiling...atleast I hope
full quarry
looks great!
noble cosmos
Question for all you texture veterans! I am retexturing a vehicle. The texture only has the left side of the vehicle, which is then flipped and applied to the right side of the vehicle..
I added a decal to the texture, but when it flips it to the right side, the decal is backwards... any clue how to go about fixing that?
Fairly new to textures, and haven't run into this before.
full quarry
if its on the texture and same area of texture applies to both sides then its a no go
what vehicle is it?
noble cosmos
A train from the ATS mod
full quarry
and you painted something on your new texture and it mirrors it to the other side
noble cosmos
Correct
full quarry
it works as it should unfortunately so you cant do anything about that
noble cosmos
Okay, I'll find a different spot for the decal then. Thank you!
frigid escarp
looking for some advice here with Winter reskins - for most vegetation it works fine, yet some keep a strong to weak green teint:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362321180973072394/368027215788507136/unknown.png
one suspicion voiced was its due to rvmat/material parameters or m[c]o texture
while most vegetation had a complete white 4x4 mco texture, these had a grey one - however replacing those, didnt help
with the rvmat one suggestion was it could be related to diffuse or forcedDiffuse - the values dont seem to be out of the ordinary though
any ideas guys?
rvmats of "bad" bushes:
https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/25799602/
https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/25799605/
rvmat of working bushes:
https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/25799607/
https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/25799610/
lyric dagger
@frigid escarp There is another texture file that adds tints, I think its called _mc or something. It looks kinda weird as it has multiple same shapes with slightly different hues
I think that is the thing that adds the green color, desaturate it and it should be fine
I also noticed that the not working bush has emmsive color
frozen blade
^^
not sure what MCO/MCA tex are tbh, seems treeadv shades uses MCO/MCA while the tree shader uses MC procedural texture
lyric dagger
Just copy all of the settings between "ambient" and "specularPower" from a working bush as well as look at the _MC textures
frigid escarp
well there are all the references from one of them:
P:\WW2\Objects_m\Vegetation\IF_BushesWinter_m\ww2_b_corylus_w.p3d
ww2\objects_r\vegetation\if_bushes_r\b_corylus_4.rvmat
ww2\objects_r\vegetation\if_bushes_r\b_corylus_1.rvmat
ww2\objects_r\vegetation\if_bushes_r\corylus_avellana_bark_co_1lod_trunk.rvmat
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_bushes_t\b_corylus_4_no.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_bushes_t\b_corylus_1_no.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_bushes_t\corylus_avellana_bark_no.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_bushes_t\b_corylus2s_1_000lod_trunk_mco.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_busheswinter_t\b_corylus_0_shadow_w_can.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_busheswinter_t\b_corylus_4_w_can.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_busheswinter_t\b_corylus_1b_w_can.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_busheswinter_t\corylus_avellana_bark_w_co.paa
ww2\objects_t\vegetation\if_busheswinter_t\b_corylus_1_w_can.paa```so no mc texture assigned. there is only in the rvmat the procedural one:
class Stage2
{
texture="#(argb,8,8,3)color(0.5,0.5,0.5,1,MCA)";
uvSource="tex1";
class uvTransform
{
aside[]={1,0,0};
up[]={0,1,0};
dir[]={0,0,0};
pos[]={0,0,0};
};
};```the rgb values in the diffuse[] on those "bad" ones, definitely have a green tint
frigid escarp
@da12thMonkey#2096 ok thanks. would be 0,0,0,0 be the way to go for Winter reskin, or should just the diffuse effect be reduced?
nocturne lake
that'll make it black
I'd say you want all values the same like that though
as in the "working" versions
so that the diffuse lighting is greyscale and takes colour directly from the diffuse texture without additional tint
frigid escarp
ok cheers. will give it a try
dense peak
@frigid escarp are you rebinarizing those p3ds or not?
frigid escarp
@dense peak so far i did not, but i would for rvmat changes obviously
dense peak
👍 had a similar issue recently where rvmat values baked into the p3d were the issue
frigid escarp
arent all values of the arrays in the range of [0-1] for rvmat/materials?
like there is >1 like 2.x or 4.x
i would assume the engine clamps them to 1 in that case but still weird
frigid escarp
like are these a problem or not? https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/25801940/
nocturne lake
some values like emissive, definitely go above 0-1
frigid escarp
how does alpha above 1 make sense?
dry otter
I told you yesterday, it makes no sense
ancient smelt
For some shaders the RVMAT parameters mean completely different things (like the refraction shader, and TreeAdv).
frozen blade
BIS at its best ^^
dense peak
@ancient smelt that sounds intresting about refraction shader, i played arround with it for quite some time but always had some weird issues... do you have any insights on what the values influence?
ancient smelt
I never kept any notes on refraction, Kiory made some things out of it though.
dense peak
i remember his thread but from what i remember it washed out into pretty much no infos given into it other than pics :S i might have to recheck
silver gull
alpha 2.0 means it's opaque not only for other objects but also itself - so basically a black hole. -jk
dense peak
😱
silver gull
@full quarry played around with refraction not too long ago iirc
dense peak
was about to tag him as he said he couldn't get it to work on man class in here:
https://forums.bistudio.com/forums/topic/191975-optical-camouflage-material-research/
but with my test about 2-3 months ago i was able to get it to work on a VR unit
silver gull
VR unit, but what about it's gear? iirc that was his problem
dense peak
Because of I dont think the effect can be applied anymore on men or vehicles might be more detailed later in the thread but thats what i saw right now
i assume his issue was that the original texture suffix applied to the unit was not a ca with alpha so the faces got other properties during binarization
hence i got it to work on the VR unit (which originally is fully alpha)
full quarry
yes the original mesh needs to have alpha texture for it to work properly
lyric dagger
Can I add displacement textures to buildings, vehicles, weapons and such? Displacement, not normal maps.
golden niche
afaik nopx works only in terrain shader
severe rune
confirmed. I think
lyric dagger
btw: whats the name of the program that edits rvmats. I cannot remember the name at all
frozen blade
notepad?
golden niche
++
frigid escarp
the material editor from BI?
odd crane
Which one should I get, zbrush or substance painter 2?
nocturne lake
I'd say SP2 is probably less of a gamble. zBrush has a pretty steep learning curve
odd crane
I do both sculpting and 3d painting, both which I'm doing with mudbox right now
rare lake
you can paint textures in zbrush, I thought it was just a sculpting modeler tool?
odd crane
well...not at this point because I'm not wanting to chuck my computer out the window
nocturne lake
As I say, I think SP2 is probably less likely to make you want to throw things
rare lake
so unless I'm mistaken that question is like "Which one should I get, <random unrelated thing> or substance painter 2?" 😃
odd crane
Always a plus @da12thMonkey#2096
nocturne lake
zBrush can do some painting stuff for sure but it's primarily for sculpting the material physically in 3d and baking it on to a LP model
modest ore
Zbrush has vertex painting so for sculpting and texturing it's possible but not advised. I have both Zbrush and SP and since SP is rent to own it's not that bad but Zbrush is all upfront.
rare lake
roger, yeah I never heard anyone talk about zbrush as texture painter.
nocturne lake
not just vertex painting though, you can paint materials on the lp and generate bitmaps from it
but overall, SP2 makes more sense for this
odd crane
sp is rent to own? I thought it was just a flat $149 or whatever
Does Zbrush have a dry brush painting feature? I just recently discovered it in mudbox and it is wonderful. Brings my wrinkles in my clothing to life
nocturne lake
it has something called cavity mask IIRC
odd crane
does sp2 have something like it?
rare lake
Mondkalb: thanks for writing multi material tutorial and granting permissions to host it: https://pmc.editing.wiki/doku.php?id=arma3:texturing:mondkalbs-multi-material-tutorial
frozen blade
@odd crane - you can get all substance tools for 19.99$/ month, after a certan number of monthly pay you can own that
for texturing SP2 is waaay above zbrush
acoustic dove
you can texture with zbrush? O.o
warm stag
you can do really basic vertex painting... but no, not really
acoustic dove
i know zbrush basic painting but not texturing heh
frozen blade
^^ you end up with some diffuse texture, and you back most of other stuff down
yeah, texturing is an overstatement, more likely painting map
warm stag
I've only briefly tried it after hearing lots good about it, seemed good to me
iirc there is / was some bullshit where the creator tried to ban people using it from making certain types of things with it because of their predjudices.. i'll see if I can find a link just in case I'm thinking of something else
acoustic dove
you mean like the creator of the 3D Coat?
warm stag
yeah
rare lake
heh, "U CANNOT MAGE GUNZ! GUNZ! KILL PEOPLES!" 😃
acoustic dove
interesting
rare lake
no idea if true but something like that would be quite crazy indeed.
warm stag
they reference the issue here: http://polycount.com/discussion/111630/opinions-about-3d-coat
but the current download page asks for an email so maybe they got rid of that, no idea. might still be in terms and conditions
rare lake
religious rant heh
warm stag
ah yeah it's not as bad as that polycount post made it out to be: https://web.archive.org/web/20120328020205/http://3d-coat.com/company/our-voice/
still kinda weird though
rare lake
hah weird indeed.
frozen blade
@warm stag what the actual fuck...ahhhahhha
warm stag
ah just noticed the current website still has that page, and it's gotten bigger: https://3dcoat.com/company/our-voice/
but at least they don't actually try and stop you doing whatever with it, they just ask you don't
(perhaps because they couldn't possibly enforce that anyway)
frozen blade
yeah but fuck a duck that "voice" page is mind boggling
severe rune
I would never use a tool made by such Idiots. Just for the fact that they are idiots.
frozen blade
fanatism at its best
warm stag
yeah same; pretty big marketing fail there
ancient smelt
Better stop using the web then, a lot of web stuff is being done by some pretty shockingly dogmatic people.
acoustic dove
" Let’s sow the kind in our life and in life of our children! " lol what
🤦 , well keeping the substance painter xD
frozen blade
@ancient smelt neah man, but if i choose with my wallet what to use, then why pay dogmatic peeps
modest ore
3D Coat now supports a full PBR workflow with layers, I own it, however I only use it for retopo which is where it shines. For pure texture work I recommend SP as your tool if your looking to purchase one. 12 months rent to own with 1 recommendation. Do not go through steam for your purchase but go through the Allegorithmic site itself. Also they have a Discord that has a bunch of people who will help if you have any questions.
nova hatch
Or if you are a student you can get a student version for a year
odd crane
I don't mind companies with a religious backdrop like Chick-fil-A or Hobby Lobby, but it's kind of weird to encourage customers to do something or not to do something based on the companies' religious views, whether it's a pro religious or anti religious company.
I hope they never get into making birth control.
Either way in mudbox I can make paint layers so when I inevitably make a tiny mistake it won't affect all my other work. Does SP2 have something like that?
@frozen blade What's included with the tools? I don't need textures.
modest ore
SP is a completely non-destructive workflow so yes, layers and all that jazz
rare lake
just checked substance painter 2 requirements, minimum of 2gb vram and I just got that heh damn. it runs but quite bad slowdowns especially when semi blindly pressing buttons (I know I know).
damn shame if I cant use it on my DevSurf machine, it would run fine on my Gaming machine... but as the names state, I want to keep them separate.
frozen blade
subscription model gets you all their tools (painter, designer, bitmap to material) + substance source
modest ore
I would recommend visiting the Allegorithmic website ...I believe they may have a trial version.
frozen blade
and yes, you have 30days trial on all products
modest ore
I forgot since I did the 19.95 a month about 2 years ago and the only reason I keep the sub is for major updates and the Substance Source materials available 😄
frozen blade
i got painter bought directly, now that i think about it, should have rent to own, these SP sources are amazing
modest ore
They might be running the special still that for owners you can get the sub for half price. If not they run it pretty fequently so maybe if it's something you want you can keep an eye on it 👁 😄
odd crane
My brother got me designer for Christmas a year ago. I haven't really used it so I think I'll pass on the tools and just get the flat SP2. As long as it does what mudbox does without any risk of making me want to use my computer for my practice golf swing I'll be fine.
merry vapor
Yeah I started renting it about 6 months ago, fully worth it
cursive zealot
So mudbox is worth keeping?
I have a license for it, just never used it
Considered installing it and see what i can learn
silver gull
for painting imo it is not worth it - because you can't paint multi channel (not sure if there where brand new updates that remidy that)
cursive zealot
So what is good for painting then?
silver gull
substance painter is imo the best right now
because procedurals >>> everything else
opinions may differ...
modest ore
Completely agree with your assesment X3KJ 😉
cursive zealot
Is substance painter subscription based?
modest ore
Ofcourse I may be a bit biased because it's what I use but the updates have been phenominal to say the least 😃
No it's not. You can rent to own or pay upfront in whole
cursive zealot
Hmmm. Has a little bit of a price tag, any student discounts?
modest ore
Once you are done with the 12 month rent to own you just apply for your definitive lisence and then you can choose to keep paying for the access to substance source and major updates ..you do get point releases free for 18 months after payment stop if you own it.
https://www.allegorithmic.com/ - Here is the website and if you have any questions beyond what they provide I will try and answer those best I can
They do have a Discord as well that has a channel devoted to answering payment stuff and subscription stuff
cursive zealot
Sweet. I'll get myself signed up here.
modest ore
Awesome! Join the dark side 😛
cursive zealot
Hahah 😹
rare lake
vertigo1055: Speaking of hardware ...certain programs like Zbrush, Substance Painter, etc. have had reports about being finicky when it comes to more that 8 (physical) cores. Ryzen having all those tastey cores seems to be the processor with these issues. How do you guys think the Ryzen processors will do or has anyone used one with the Arma Tools?
oh dont tell me substance painter 2 is not working well on such multicore CPUs? damn, its always something hrr. well one could think that since SP2 is actively developed it would be fixed, not like ryzen is the only 8+ core CPU but seems like its (going to be) common in the near future. I was eyeballing that 12 core one to purchase when I save enough money (hence my worry about SP2).
frozen blade
sp2 works on multicore CPUs (tested it on a 2x 12core xeon machine) , just like all proper software these days, including zbrush
full quarry
@gray owl if you want to blend 2 or more mask textures all you need to do is blend the actual mask colors. It will however blend them by the ratio you blend the colors, so it may not be what you are after. For example I've done rocks with both tiled normalmaps and baked whole model normalmaps and blended them together
gray owl
ok thats a good start so depending on rgb color values in mask i will get coresponding textures to show
full quarry
👍 hopefully it works out as you want
gray owl
"For example I've done rocks with both tiled normalmaps and baked whole model normalmaps and blended them together" this should be what i need basicaly i want to use some kind of nm decals but would like to be able to overlay some nm over it
full quarry
I got black mask color set up for the baked material so I just mixed black with the rest of the mask with about 40 percent opacity
also I made the normalmaps stronger by adding some contrast to them
gray owl
thanks a lot mate!!!
somber pier
Is there a way to 'extract' a bump map from an existing texture or anything like that?
frigid escarp
- are the mat templates for A3?
- this guide still fully valid or some aspects different in A3? (aside from new shaders, etc)
https://pmc.editing.wiki/doku.php?id=arma:texturing:material_editor_tut
ancient smelt
It's very rare in A3 assets that anything other than Super and Multimat are used.
frigid escarp
<- coming from the realms of porting A2 assets 👼
dry otter
@somber pier use CrazyBump software
odd cape
Does anyone know a tutorial on how to use UV Editor. I'm trying to create a single texture file for the level 20.000 LOD
silver gull
crazybump and the like... are usually crappy. Works in very special cases, but in general it produces very wonky normal maps
odd cape
ah
dry otter
Hey ! I have many images with a green background i'd like to remove to create an alpha, via a batch or whatever automated process (like in photsgop for example). Anyone as an idea ?
dry otter
fixed
gray owl
@full quarry do you know by any chance what method is used for blending material textures when rgb-b values are not pure? (multimat)
half3 mCOavg = tex2Dlod(sampler0, co0).rgb;
mCOavg = lerp(mCOavg, tex2Dlod(sampler1, co1).rgb, mask.r);
mCOavg = lerp(mCOavg, tex2Dlod(sampler2, co2).rgb, mask.g);
mCOavg = lerp(mCOavg, tex2Dlod(sampler3, co3).rgb, mask.b);
this could be?
full quarry
Mmm what am I looking at here?
gray owl
from multimat biki page https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Multimaterial
gray owl
i want to recreate shader in blender so its easier to work, but need to know how it blends textures
full quarry
ah I simply gave each material I use a color and baked that
gray owl
well "shader" wrong word. to recerate what multimat does when it blends textures, at least to some extent
full quarry
also I blended this with the opaque black layer to blend in the 4th baked normalmap
gray owl
yea i can see it being more intuitive
nocturne prairie
i have a visual problem with my logo. Thats a plane with .ca (Transparence).how i can fix that? https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293362141879074819/374276314754056223/unknown.png
dry quartz
@nocturne prairie do you mean the white outline? That could either be that you dont have any padding in the texture or that you're seeing the cube map at grazing angles
but you should be aware that no shader renders shadows when using transparent technique. consider using a _co texture which will only discard (mask) pixels
nocturne prairie
no i dont mean the white line. ehm.. i make a GIF. Uno momento
nocturne prairie
@dry quartz https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293362141879074819/374304115259473920/GIF.gif
Texture flickers 😪
Edit: it's cracking in the texture
nocturne prairie
z-fighting?^^
dry quartz
nocturne prairie
ok. I need a "how to" to repair it 😄
full quarry
custom model?
full quarry
move the plane a bit more out of the body surface
nocturne prairie
i have. that isnt the problem
i think, the effect comes when the plane in shadow or in light
dry quartz
Hmm ok.. does it look similar to the zfighting gif I sent?
Or are you thinking of the specular highlight in certain angles?
Try just making it a co texture. It might solve it but also it makes more sense to use
nocturne prairie
Co texture works. But isnt transparent... Its a littlebit curios with .Ca
i test it
full quarry
_CO can have 1bit transparency, meaning its either fully transparent or fully visible
errant palm
Could anyone help out here, I cant get the normal image to work on a surface, I named the .tga "_NOPX" before converting to .paa in texView. Where am I going wrong with this? Any specific drop down box I'm not inputing a value into?
fiery barn
So I have a problem
When making a custom helmet
that has white on it
its very bright
any ideas?
severe rune
make it grey ¯_(ツ)_/¯